Another Baby Quilt

This is another baby quilt that I was asked to make from a layer cake that was provided. The fabrics were all directional, so I came up with this idea of setting the squares. For the backing, I made a verticle row of ten-inch squares to extend the width of the white fabric. It always takes a lot more fabric for the backing when the quilt is done on a longarm. It's quilted with simple all-over loops.

"Oh My Stars" Baby Quilt

I was asked to make a baby quilt from a layer cake. When I noticed that most of the fabric prints in the package were directional, it was necessary to find a design that would be suitable. I ended up choosing the "Oh My Stars" free pattern on Pat Sloan's blog. It's well written and easy to follow. The backing fabric that was provided was a plush type, kind of a cross between Minky and Fireside. I hoped there wouldn't be any problems when I quilted it, but Matilda, the longarm handled it like a champ.

Gift For A Co-worker

I'll be working Christmas Day and Boxing Day at the local assisted living facility. I was trying to think of a gift for my co-worker and decided to make an apron. Not having a pattern to go by, I used an apron I already had as a guide. It pays to have a large fabric stash, then I can dig around and find supplies for last minute gifts. :) The apron isn't really crooked, it's just the way I had it pinned up to take the photo.

"Lesson In Patience" Is Completed

This quilt is an example of "What can go wrong will go wrong". First of all, I didn't like my quilting design, so I picked out every second row, then requilted it. Because of all the stitch removal, I decided to wash it to clean up the little thread bits and close up the needle holes. Much to my dismay, I saw that many of the red fabrics bled. I looked up the instructions online for the article "Save My Bleeding Quilt". The quilt was soaked in the bathtub with hot water and Dawn dish detergent for many hours. Then I ran it through a rinse cycle in the washing machine. The red stains came out of the top of the quilt but there were some areas on the back that were still stained. Even some of the green fabric bled. One of the pictures shows a stain. I appliqued some orphan blocks over the worst parts and will cover a few more spots another time. It's a good thing this quilt wasn't intended as a gift! I always prewash all of my fabrics and I used six colour catchers when first washing this quilt. None of that helped, the fabrics bled anyway. I am going to throw away the reds that were the culprits. It's probably a good idea to soak the rest of the reds from my stash in Retayne and hot water. I named this quilt, "Lesson in Patience". The pattern came from a Fons and Porter magazine, Quilting Quickly, March/April 2015. The pattern was called, "Scrappy Chains". The block is the same as Bonnie Hunter's "Carolina Chain". Her blocks are set on point and these blocks are a straight setting.

Churn Dash Is Completed

There was a stack of Churn Dash blocks stored in a plastic bag in my sewing room for four or five years. I had intended on making several more to make a queen-size quilt. A few months ago, I counted the blocks and discovered that if I made only three more, I could make a full size quilt if sashing was added between them. I dug around and unearthed a large piece of floral fabric that Linda H gave to me a long time ago. It was just the right size to use for a border and part of the backing. Luckily, I was able to purchase a suitable plain fabric to use for binding. That teal colour can be difficult to match. I free-motion quilted it with a combination of loops and swirls.